The guy, Nizen Lopez, who did the artwork for the album... he came to a show and gave me the painting. It had his phone number and everything on the back of it. The painting was titled, "Serpent of the Light." I called him up and talked to him for about an hour on the phone and asked him how he came up with it and what it means to him. I told him that I was interested in using the painting and the title on the new record. He was very excited about it. So am I. The song itself is our phone conversation.
- Glen Benton / Deicide interview, The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds #10, 1997
DEICIDE released Serpents of the Light, their fourth album, on this day in 1997.
"Killing, blood spilling" came to me. And then, "Murder unheard of." That came pouring out of me. I wrote that song in an afternoon.
- Glen Benton / Deicide interview, The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds #10, 1997
I wrote "Father Baker" in an hour and a half. It was just something that needed to come out of me. That song deals with a place that used to exist in upstate New York, where I'm from. I have a cousin that escape from the place.
...we're taking like 50 years ago or whatever... you got out of a place like that, you get as far from that fucking place as you fuckin' could. (laughs) When I was a kid, man, our parents used to threaten us with it. And their parents used to threaten them with it. So me and Chris Barnes were talking on the phone one day, and I mentioned it to him. He fuckin' just totally freaked out on me. "I can't believe you brought that up! I have heard that since I was a kid!" We were both in the same area. So I'm like, "Dude, I'm gonna write a song about it. One of us has to write it." He was done with his record, so I said, "I've got one left. Let me see what I can do." That afternoon, I went out and I wrote it.
- Glen Benton / Deicide interview, The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds #10, 1997